Prince Harry and Meghan Markle relocated to the US more than three years ago, and for most of that time, it seemed they could do no wrong.
These days, however, the Sussexes seem to be trapped in a never-ending PR crisis.
According to multiple polls, Harry and Meghan’s approval ratings are at an all-time low.
And the decline in popularity is beginning to affect the couple’s earning potential.
Last month, fans were shocked by the news that Meghan’s Spotify podcast had been canceled after just one season.
That news was followed by another public relations setback, as sports journalist and Spotify exec Bill Simmons blasted Harry and Meghan as “f–king grifters” for allegedly failing to fulfill their contract.
There have also been rumors that Harry and Meghan’s lucrative Netflix deal is now in jeopardy, but the streaming giant has issued a statement denying those claims.
Not surprisingly, the Sussexes harshest critics in the British tabloid media are having are having a field day with the couple’s recent troubles.
“All she’s got is the baggage of the Oprah Winfrey interview and her damnation of the royal family in various successive interviews,” royal expert Tom Bower told OK! magazine this week (via Marie Claire).
“That’s why she’s been so quiet the whole year. She knows they’ve probably gone too far, and she doesn’t know how to get out of it now. What is fascinating is how will it end? What will the climax be?”
Princess Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell echoed those sentiments, telling The Mirror that Harry and Meghan “misunderstood what was expected of them” when it came to their streaming deals.
Burrell says that Harry and Meghan had planned to make a living bashing the royal family, but they backed down after after feeling that they’d gone “too far.”
Now, he says, they’ve “fallen short of everything that was expected” by their employers.
“Obviously, Spotify was a money-making exercise as much as Netflix was, and I think that Harry and Meghan both misunderstood what was expected of them,” Burrell said.
“Of course, both Spotify and Netflix wanted royal content. After all, that’s what they’re famous for,” he continued.
“Both Netflix and Spotify signed up for that content, for their story, for their experience with the royal family and, sadly, I think it’s been shortcoming.”
Burrell says it’s now time for Harry and Meghan to “reinvent themselves” and enter a new line of work.
He concluded his comments by predicting that Meghan will eventually find success, but in the realms of “beauty and fashion,” rather than media or politics.
“I’ve always said that, and I can see a bottle of ‘Meghan’ on someone’s dressing table, or perhaps ‘Duchess.’ Why wouldn’t someone want to take a risk with that and create something for Meghan?” Burrell said.
“Then that would give her a foothold and a platform to launch herself into fashion,” he continued.
In a rare show of decency from the Sussexes’ haters, Burrell went on to concede that Meghan would likely be a hit in the fashion world.
“I think it’s another platform which can give her an opportunity to grow tentacles into different arenas, and I’ve always said that this is just a rung on the ladder,” he said.
“She’s climbing the ladder. She will eventually climb to the top of that ladder.”
And once she gets to the top, you can be sure that Meghan will reach down and lend Harry a hand with his own career!
